Wifi Worries: Ubuntu 6.10+ November 24, 2006

(Disclaimer: Everything I say about Ubuntu 6.10 must be qualified because I’ve upgraded it through Automatix, hence the title Ubuntu 6.10+. Therefore, if something is not working, it could be an Ubuntu problem or it could also be loading unsupported proprietory software.)

There are 4 *four* updates for this post. When I first tried, when I tried again, and the next day. As of now, my wi-fi is working, though I have to fiddle around to make it work each time.

FIRST ATTEMPT: I can’t believe it… nor understand it. I just spending 4.5 hours trying to set-up the wifi in Ubuntu. I tried all combinations, permuations earlier… but still nothing had happened. Of course I could see a signal, but there was no way to connect. Finally I gave up. Was just about to shut down the computer. Accidently clicked a tab in Swiftfox and… voila! It worked. I really don’t know what happened. But at least it’s encouraging that something worked. Now I have to retrace my steps and hopefully I’ll be able to recover wifi again.

I hate to say it, but right now my experiences with Ubuntu are reminding me of my Windows 95 days. Of course they were fun days and I am enjoying myself. But Ubuntu is “hanging” all too often

next update:When I TRIED AGAIN he same day, after rebooting. Guess what? I rebooted and I had a major system hang while trying to reconfigure. And for once I missed Windows. Windows XP’s CTLALTDEL function (that brings up TaskManager) is so powerful that it can override Windows itself. I’ve found myself in many a Windows created mess and been saved by TaskManager. In contrast, Ubuntu’s System Monitor is almost a slave to the system. It works slow when there is extra load, and worse, today when my machine hung, I tried to bring up System Monitor and it did come up (after a while) and it hung too. In my living memory, that has never happened to my in Windows. So, I guess, I need to figure out a way to find emergency solutions. In effect, I had to manually restart, something that I had doing… but what to do. And what’s the end of the story… obviously no WiFi network again. At least my system is back running. I hate to say it, but right now my experiences with Ubuntu are reminding me of my Windows 95 days. Of course they were fun days… so obviously I’m still enjoying myself. But Ubuntu is “hanging” all too often at the moment. And of course… a bad carpenter blames the tools, so it’s probably me. Hmm, what if we all said that about Windows too!

ps. I broke my no-Windows rule today by booting to my Windows XP just to confirm whether wifi was working on Windows! But even now, I’m back to Linux (this time XFLD 0.3) typing this.

THIRD ATTEMPT (The next day): Believe it or not, within 5 minutes of getting to the college library, my wifi is working… and I’m writing from there. This is what should have happened yesterday, but it didn’t. Now, it seems things are working. Perhaps Ubuntu is not so good in chaning networks… or whatever. But I know for sure that it is not a driver issue because my wifi card is supported by Ubuntu. I guess it was MY problem afterall… or maybe a combination… but can’t say. Anyway, I know I never expected my experience with Ubuntu to be a 100% smooth ride, and it hasn’t been. But I’m really glad that I’m able to solve certain problems and move on. I think the comparison I made earlier to working on Ubuntu being like working on Windows 95 is apt… not because of the technology because Ubuntu is much more advanced, capable and stable than Win95… it’s just that the early years of working with Windows 95 were fraught with problems, but we rarely complained… in fact we were so grateful for having such an interface to work with. That’s how I feel about Ubuntu… grateful… and happy that things are now moving forward. Looking forward to getting some “actual” work now.

Update number four (few days later): Today I came expecting the wi-fi to start working after I did the usual routine… network selection, disconnecting wired connections, connecting wireless etc. But it still didn’t work. I spent another 10 minutes of randomly doing combinations of what usually worked earlier. But nothing did. Then, I it suddenly got activated. My guess is that it takes time to recognise wi-fi. Maybe that’s true… so I’ll do the basic settings next time and wait for about 5-10 minutes. If that does not work… then it must be a mysterious combination setting.